Prayers for peace

Published 6:00 am, Wednesday, June 24, 2015

In song and prayer, the Jacksonville community came together Tuesday to remember the Charleston, South Carolina, shooting victims and to forgive the young man accused of taking their lives.

“I didn’t come here to preach — I came to share my heart,” said the Rev. David Stewart, pastor of Mount Emory Baptist Church, one of the oldest black churches in Illinois.

In a packed sanctuary, Stewart said it is time for all Americans to stand together. “We all are different,” he said. “We are not a melting pot; we are more of a tossed salad. We are called to love one another.”

The prayer vigil included a video tribute to the nine men and women who died a week ago. Local church leaders, as well as city, county and state elected officials attended the hour-long gathering, which was punctuated by rousing versions of “This Little Light of Mine” and “We Shall Overcome.”

To honor the nine victims, Mount Emory leaders chose 18 people from the audience to light nine candles on the altar. The last two randomly selected candle lighters — a young black boy and a young white boy — received a standing ovation as they walked off the altar.

“I knew that Jacksonville needed to come together to remember this tragic event, because it could have happened here,” Mount Emory deacon Jackie Rogers said. “Mount Emory, like Emanuel AME, is a historic black church, and I thought we should hold the ceremony at Mount Emory to show our unity with another historic black church.”

Dylann Storm Roof, 21, is accused of joining a prayer meeting inside Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston and, shooting nine people dead, including the pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, and other ministers.

A police affidavit released Friday accused Roof of shooting all nine multiple times, and making a “racially inflammatory statement” as he stood over an unidentified survivor.

Roof had complained recently that “blacks were taking over the world” and that “someone needed to do something about it for the white race,” according to Joey Meek, who tipped off the FBI when he saw his friend on surveillance images before Roof was captured Thursday.

“It was something we don’t understand, but when the devil gets involved, he comes to kill and destroy,” Rogers said. “We can’t allow the devil to have victory. I hope that God touches this young man in jail to let him know that God loves him, even though he committed an evil sin.”